Articles tagged “regulations”

Under Chris Lehane, Airbnb has often irritated and outraged local government leaders and short-term rental peers. But as we know about negative campaigns and hardball tactics, they often get results.

Several travel-oriented, special purpose acquisition companies are out there that have not announced merger partners. A SPAC glut and the lackluster performance of several online travel or short-term rental companies that recently went public could have some of the hunters coming up empty.

Booking.com doesn't want affiliates or other partners to make unsubstantiated promotional claims about the online travel agency having the "best," meaning the lowest prices, which it admits it doesn't have. With regulators in Europe and elsewhere watching its every move, Booking.com doesn't want to play like that.

Booking.com has prided itself on being a household name in its European home base, but will have a tough time avoiding a European Commission designation of gatekeeper. Such stature could bring increased restrictions.

The entire hospitality industry would agree that short-term rentals led the tentative recovery in the spring and into the summer in many parts of the world. But a key question will be how will they respond when hotels and cities come back in earnest — and with vaccines a real possibility, they certainly will.

Despite the Covid-19 hit, Airbnb stands above its fellow travel rivals due to its ability to continue to book sales during the crisis and turn those stays into cash flow.

Regulators in China, Europe, and the U.S. can certainly screw up on execution of their goals with over-regulation, under-regulation, or initiatives that are off-target. But there's something happening around the globe that points to a new and potentially hopeful era for competition and innovation.

If the future of travel will tilt toward non-urban destinations, which are not Airbnb's strength, its stock market registration papers will have to show how the company is addressing that weakness.

Expedia Group, and its Vrbo unit, are willing to take a significant hit to their property listings in San Diego in exchange for an ongoing path to crystal clear legality in an important business and convention market. With other jurisdictions undoubtedly looking on, Airbnb has to decide if it will play hardball.

If Airbnb will ever succeed in easing New York's stringent short-term rental regulations, a precursor would be the type of hosting-information-sharing pact that it reached with the city. It doesn't guarantee lighter regulation, but many things could be on the table in the new normal of a post-coronavirus New York City.